


Left With The Hick [The story so far]

by ohsodirnty



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 21:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2827010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsodirnty/pseuds/ohsodirnty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being separated from Coach & Rochelle, Nick is left to roam Savannah with Ellis as they try to find safety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Left With The Hick [The story so far]

Savannah – if you didn’t know – is damn hot. Ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit mid-day, if my math’s good, that’s about thirty three degrees Celsius, for all you not in the US.  
You can’t walk all day in that. The city lies behind us in rubble, sand and ash. Those fellow survivors I met at the start? Two of them are walking in the opposite direction to us; me and Ellis. I never thought this’d happen, yet here I am, babysitting.

God, why won’t he _shut up?!_

I try to focus on the abandoned gas station ahead, with a small garage built on the side nearest us; shade falling over the only double sided gas pump at the place. I pull my pistol out of its holster on my thigh and Ellis runs ahead like an exited puppy, armed to the teeth; automatic shotgun in one hand, blood covered baseball bat in the other.  
“D’ya recon there’ll be water?” He calls back as I keep walking. I don’t run if I don’t have to; conserving energy and all that.  
“I don’t know, Kid.”

When we get closer, I kick in the door on the count of three. A handful of infected turn, glaring into the sudden sunlight before I shoot two, Ellis gets the others. Their lifeless bodies drop to the floor, that’s when I notice it, clear liquid flowing to the floor, through the glass door of a broken refrigerator. Fuck. The few bottles of water that had been in there are now tainted with shotgun ammo and the blood of the infected. I feel something inside me snap, red flooding my vision as I turn to the kid and snatch the shotgun from him, smacking the butt of it round the back of his head.  
“Oow! What the hell was that for?!” He drawls, rubbing the back of his head. I simply jerk my thumb towards the bottles of water, teeth clenched before I thrust the gun into his chest. He grips at it nervously, looking round me before letting the shotgun clatter to the floor. “Awh, shit, I’m sorry, Nick.” He mutters, dragging his cap off and wringing it anxiously between his tanned hands. A strange silence follows and for the first time since we separated, the lack of Rochelle comforting Ellis with _sweetie_ is like a punch in the gut. I’m the only one to tell him that it’s ok. Jesus. I take a deep shaking breath and relax my jaw.  
“It’s fine.” I manage, rolling my shoulders back before poking an infected with the toe of my shoe. “Help me drag these out.” With as much enthusiasm as I can muster for the god awful task, I grab the stained shirts of two infected, dragging them through the bust open door. Once in the sun and a good few meters away from the garage, the bodies are dumped to be buried later. Ellis takes a deep breath before smashing the end of the bat into each head of the infected, ensuring they’re dead without wasting precious ammo. Once finished he mutters under his breath and swipes a quick cross over his torso. Wiping my hands on my once white pants, we wander back into the place, pulling the door shut before sitting on the cold tile floor as I glance around. With my back to the wall, the front entrance is to my left. A trashed counter stands a meter away: a ransacked till, cash and other items from mints to batteries, are spilt over and onto the floor in a hurry to leave. Splitting the small cinderblock building in half is one line of shelves, all near bare. The frames of three doors can be seen behind them. A few mesh covered windows are spotted around, letting in hazy sunlight that falls on the collection of fridges; including the one which now has a puddle at its feet.  
“I’d kill for a cigarette.” I mutter aloud, running a hand through my hair. Ellis stands, leaving his bat then vaulting over the counter in one fluid movement. Before I can open my mouth to ask what the hell he’s doing, he stood back up, a box of twelve menthols in his hand and a stupid grin plastered to his face. He throws them over before ducking back down under the counter for a few moments more, reappearing with a lighter, which he throws over too.  
“There ya go.” He nods before vaulting back over and wandering around the place, opening fridges and routing through shelves. I don’t know where he gets the fucking energy. “Found some candy, and a few blankets, a tire pump…” He rails off with each random item he stumbles across. I hold a cigarette to my lip and light it, inhaling slowly and melting against the floor as I unwind. I feel a smile pull at my lips as he goes on.  
“Okay, Ellis, I get the picture... You’re a real scavenging boy scout. Now, do me a favour; let me enjoy this fucking cigarette in peace.” As I speak, he glances round the line of shelves.  
“Oh, yeah, sorry.” He bows his head a little before disappearing. Moments later, he walks out of the shelved area with a blanket wrapped bundle in his arms, which he lays down gently on the floor before splitting the goods evenly between us. My smile grows as he pushes a can of something my way, then hands over a blanket. “They could be peaches, or beans, I aint sure.”  
“Well, either's good.” I shrug, finishing my cigarette so close to the end it burns the tips of my fingers. I hold this breath in longer than all the rest before letting it out slowly. Ellis fans his hands at the smoke. “If you had an aversion to smokers, why didn’t you speak up?” I mutter, picking up the can and inspecting it.  
“I don’t mind it, my ma used to… _nostalgic,_ I guess.”  
“I could’ve gone outside.” I offer, the Boston in my voice pulling more. I clear my throat and rummage round the tiny pile of objects for something to drink.  
“There was orange juice, but it was outta date ‘n not in a fridge, so I reckoned you’d wanna give that a miss.”  
“Good call, Overalls.”  
“No pro-blame-o, Suit.” He grins in return, picking up his own can and giving it a shake, “I recon I got pears.” He lets out a sigh before leaning back on his own thermal blanket, the kind they used to advertise on TV; _now with holes so you can get your remote…_ but without the holes.  
“Were there any more blankets?” I inquire, replacing the cigarette box in my hand.  
“A couple, yeah, why?”  
“Just wondering.” I shrug, palming the box over slowly, my eyes fixing on the graphic image of singed lungs. I frown, pocketing the box before thinking aloud again in a mutter, “Is there much point giving up smoking if we’re gonna die in the fucking apocalypse anyway?”  
“We aint gonna die, I mean hell, we’ve gotten this far.” Ellis counters cheerfully, but worry knits his brow, “Why’d you say that, anyhow? Thinkin of quittin?”  
“I dunno,” I shrug, letting my hands fall into my lap. “Maybe. Healthier, I suppose.”  
“I say enjoy the little things, you like a smoke once in a while, go for it.”  
“Once in a while, when I’ve got a fucking moment free to do it.” I chuckle, trying to make light of my random outburst.  Ellis chuckles a little too, nodding in agreement. “Did you see any sign of a safe house?”  
“Nope.” He sighs, “But there’s a toilet n sink for customers.”  
“I’m sure they won’t mind us using it.” I flash a grin, “Anything else?” I peer around.  
“A small office.”  
“I’d hate to think of the poor sap, who drove out to _bum-fuck-nowhere_ here every morning.”  
“Y’d think they’d make somewhere to live around.” Ellis mutters in agreement before fishing in his small pile, pulling out a candy bar and opening it eagerly before taking a huge bite out of it and grinning.  
“Wait…” I stand up, routing round in my pack, eventually pulling out my water flask. “Where’s the can?”  
“Back there,” Ellis replies through his mouthful of food, pointing to the right corner. I go where directed, opening the door and baring the smell. Stepping over puddles till I reached the small, stained sink. I turn the tap with my breath held behind tightly pressed lips; pipes groan and water splutters out of the tap, brown at first, before turning clear. I let my breath out in a rush as I shove the open flask under the faucet, filling it to the brim before turning it off. A genuine grin pulls at my lips as I take it back over to Ellis and the blankets.  
“Here, water. Might not be the nicest, but it’s something.” I take a mouthful before handing it over to the kid.  
“Thanks,” He grins back, carefully taking the flask and drinking in heavy gulps. Once we’d had our fill I pad back to top it up. With the cap back on, I return it to my pack; Ellis finishes his candy bar. Once rested a little, we work on turning the garage into a safe house: shutting and boarding the windows, pulling the blinds down and barricading the doors and other weak spots with the empty shelves. I sweep the floor of sand and glass as best I can, before finding an old can of spray paint in the office – Ellis offers to mark the front door of the place with the safe house logo, leaving me to turn the office into a nicer sleeping space. Two blankets on the floor as make shift mats, a couple rolled up for covers and travel cushions at either end. New flash lights are placed next to the makeshift beds, along with our piles of food and flasks of water.

*

I wander out of the office with a new gun in hand as Ellis shuts the door and pulls the deadbolt across it.  
“Where’d you find that?” Ellis frowns, rubbing his hands on his blue coveralls, smearing red paint down the reaming clean _ish_ patch.  
“In the safe.” I jolt my free thumb towards the office with a grin.  
“I didn’t see one…” Ellis frowns, eyeing up the pistol.  
“That’s cause you didn't look in the right place.” I chuckle, smirking.  
“Is that a Colt?”  
“Uh-hu, Special Combat.” I nod slowly, turning the gun in my hand before shoving it down the back of my pants. Ellis chews the bottom of his lip before putting the can down on the now semi-organised counter.  
“Did you see the garage on the side?” He inquires moments later, glancing towards the third door, the one we’d yet to go through. “The doors were chained shut.”  
“We’ll keep them that way, just use the side door. It’s more protection for this place.”  
“Alright… there might be some melees.”  
“And something to bury those infected with.”  
“It’d be better than burnin em.” Ellis continues, I grin in agreement whilst making my way round to the side door that lead to the garage, almost scared at how we were thinking the same. Ellis follows, but bumps into me as I freeze in the doorway, his eyes widening too as they fall onto the armoured pickup truck. “That’s… beautiful…” He breathes, a grin pulling at his lips. I couldn’t help but agree, it was a god send. I wandered around the vehicle and grabbed armfuls of spades, crow bars and anything else I could find.  
“Hey,” I click my fingers, “stop drooling over the truck and give me a hand.”  
“Sure.” Ellis sighs before grabbing some items, hauling them through to the station store, leaning them against the wall for easy grabbing. “So, the sun’s calmed down… we gonna bury them zombies b’fore they start attractin vultures?”  
“Mm-hm.” I nod before stretching and grabbing two shovels, passing one over to Ellis.

*

Once we burry the infected outside; Ellis giving another mutter under his breath as they were _laid to rest_ , we rush back inside to the truck and he pops the lid before going elbow deep into the engine.  
“Shoul’n’t take me long t’ fix her up,” He comments as he goes, grabbing a wrench from the work bench. Much to my chagrin previously held in the past couple of days and insistence that I wanted to carry on alone… Right now, I’m kind of glad the mechanic chose to tag along with me and not Rochelle and Coach. “I’ll work on her whilst it’s still light, you wanna check the rest of the room for anything useful?”  
“Sure thing.” I wander around the truck, eyes skimming the piles of crap.  
I end up finding two blow torches, a few bottles of lighter fluid, a first aid kit and two boxes of unlabelled tinned food. But most importantly, a camping grill with a carrier bag of gas cans and a couple collapsible saucepans.

*

“How’s it going in there?” I call through to Ellis as I cook the contents of two tins.  
“Pretty good, how ‘bout you?”  
“All finished, come get it.” I pour Ellis’ half into his sauce pan. He wanders through, face covered in smudges, wiping his hands on his coveralls.  
“Thanks.” He collapses down next to me, taking the pan and digging in eagerly. “This… is so… good.” He mutters, cheeks bulging.  
“It’s beans and hot dogs.” I frown, starting on my own, but as soon as the food hits my stomach, I realise how fucking hungry I am. Before I can blink, the pan is empty and my fork is scraping up the last of the tomato sauce. “Okay… that was pretty good.” I sigh contently before grabbing my water flask and drinking some, passing it over to Ellis then taking the dishes and washing them quickly in as little water as possible.     
Once that was done, I check the ammo for my pistol and newly claimed Colt, reloading it with what I’d found in the safe; Ellis continues to work on the truck until the sun begins to set. He quickly disappears into the toilet, reappearing moments later, drying his face on the inside of his shirt before pulling it back over his head. I shuffle my deck of cards slowly, keeping my eyes fixed on the changing suits. He clears his throat before sitting on his blanket across from me, grabbing his shotgun and giving it a quick clean before reloading it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and if it gets a decent response, I'll carry it on. I've got some plans for a chapter or two more.


End file.
